Tramadol & Cocodomol (codeine + APAP) mix

[odonnellb]

I am 22 year old female with chronic joint pain, and severe depression. I'm awaiting my specialist appointment with a rheumatologist in just over a months time.

My doctor has recently put me on a drug combination of 2x30/500mg co-codamol/paracetamol 4 times a day, and 2x50mg tramadol twice a day and 3x50mg at night time for my joint pain... But I am also on 50mg daily of sertraline, which I have read can increase the effects of tramadol (serotonin syndrome?), but I'm not sure how much truth is in that.

I've spoken to a couple of family friends and they have said this is quite a high/dangerous dosage, especially to be mixing the two together with the sertraline as well. I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on the subject as these family friends could just be wanting to act know-it-alls, because they have never actually elaborate on why it is bad. Although I am hesitant as I've read online that the normal dosage of tramadol is 50mg 4 times a day.


Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[Bluesbreaker]

These don't look like high doses at all, except maybe for the paracetamol, but I do like to think docs know what they are prescribing in general.

Yeah mixing codeine with tramadol looks a bit awry, but why not. The real question is: is your pain level lowered by this combination? That's all that counts IMHO.

 

[odonnellb]

I'm still feeling pain during the day, but I think at night the combination knocks me out so much that I just sleep and therefore don't have the pain. I had just read that as codeine and tramadol had the same base drug in them that it could be hazardous. A pharmacist said it could cause delirium and troubled-breathing. But I am away from home at the moment so can't go to my doctor and get advice from her, which would of course be the best option.